Table of contents
A record of random observations, thoughts and experiences sourced from many years of idle wanderings and wonderings. All indexed for your convenience.
Prologue ...
An earlier title for this introductory post was, ‘Confessions of a Flâneur.’ I first came across the term via Edmund White’s book, ‘The Flâneur: A Stroll Though the Paradoxes of Paris.’ I had to look up the meaning, and I liked what I found.
As this log continues to evolve, navigating becomes a challenge. Here, you can hone in on continents, countries or escapades that piques your interest.
I’ll update with each new post so you can more easily see where in the world I’ve been.
General/global
Marguerite Duras and The Lover
I often explore books set in the country I’m planning to visit. Prefer fiction, but nothing against non-fiction. Part research and part indulgence as part of prepping for a trip. With Vietnam, there were quite a few authors to choose from. Graham Greene, Michael Herr, Andrew X Pham, and Le Ly Hayslip to name a few. In the process, I came across an unfam…
When the 'slow road' is the way to go
Where train or bus is an option I prefer this to short haul flights, if time allows. That said, when you factor in how early you need to get to an airport, wait for the counter to open, queue to check-in, endure immigration and snaking security lines (including disrobing and unpacki…
An 'appy online experience
Over the last 9 months I’ve flown on about a dozen different international airlines. These include Cathay Pacific, Korean Air, and China Airlines, as well as Iberia, TAP, Ryanair, British Airways, Air Baltic, and probably a few others in between. And none come remotely close to Lufthansa in the digital customer experience, content design, and notifications of its app or web platforms.
Book review: 'The Log from the Sea of Cortez'
There is a fish that lives in the anus of a sea cucumber. It flips in and out, possibly feeding on the faeces of the host, but more likely hiding from possible enemies.
A literary feast
For a vagabond on the road, or anyone travelling for that matter, food is never far from your mind. Once you’re ensconced in any new destination, time exploring can be equated to how might you spend time between meals. That is, what to eat, when to eat, and where to eat constitute a good part of your thinking, planning and daily itinerary.
Asia
Seoul in a bowl
SOUTH KOREA: The thing I’ve slowly realised, after almost a week in Seoul, is that this heaving, teeming metropolis of 10 million people can be compared to a bowl of bibimbap.
The day I met 'David Beckham'
VIETNAM: In the Gulf of Thailand, on the island of Phú Quốc, fishing and living is a very manual and laidback affair.
Hoi An, Vietnam. She stands as she always has, offering small comforts to those who stop, embodying a resilience that no guidebook captures.
Often reduced in popular culture to the "Las Vegas of Asia," this diminutive territory offers far more than glitzy casinos and neon lights.
So this #luangprabang caper is a bit alluring. Quite a bit. It presents a fascinating tableau where French colonial grandeur meets Laotian grace. Colonial mansions, with their European lines softened by the tropical night, stand alongside temples with their distinctive peaked roofs and wood-shuttered windows.
South Korea's best kept secret
Sometimes the random choices of travel stopovers turn out to be gems in and of themselves. Gyeongju was one such revelation. After a week in Seoul, and a flight a week later out of Busan in the south, I was looking for somewhere to break the journey up for a few days; to escape that bigger city metropolis and kick back a gear or two. And Gyeongju delive…
A refuge to see out the ‘end of days’
JAPAN: If push came to shove, and our planet deemed beyond repair, where might you choose to hole up? I don’t mean seeing out my final days as an inpatient at some assisted care facility sucking food through a straw. At least that’s not my intention. No, the working assumption is that both my faculties and my finances will be healthy enough to sustain what might be my last adventure.
Europe
A long night's journey into 'day'
The moment of crossing the Arctic Circle arrives without ceremony. Through the small aircraft window, the landscape below offers no visible boundary, no painted line across Norway's endless white expanse. Yet something shifts in the quality of light, in the consciousness of passengers glancing at GPS coordinates on seatback screens. We have entered a re…
Bellagio: a photo essay on Lake Como
The boat from Varenna cut through the dark water, making its way toward Bellagio. The mountains stood white against the clean blue sky, like old men with white hair. Winter was coming and the season’s first snows basked in the honey-hued light. In the cold air, the water looked black except where the late sun caught it.
From Switzerland to Italy; on skis
I’d been watching the wind conditions for days. Gales on the summit made any attempt to ski from Zermatt, Switzerland to Cervinia, Italy, an impossibility. Or at the least, a not very enjoyable alpine experience.
Latvia's capital – where medieval charm meets modern flair – offers a whirlwind long week of cobbled streets, vibrant markets, Art Nouveau elegance, and a culinary scene that’s as rich as its history.
After the storm, comes the port
With the promise of dry weather after a spell of wet and very windy days, we headed to Porto’s Saõ Bento station and caught the 08:21 train to Pinhaõ. Once suburbia was in our wake it wasn’t long before we saw our first boat wake, fanning out from a traditional
Beware of speeding Greeks
The taxi driver was in his early 30s, large of build, bearded, and a smoker. He seemed to know the hotel when I mentioned my destination in Thessaloniki, which is always a relief when arriving via the international airport in a new country or city. I pulled out the hotel booking confirmation as we sped out the exit, uttered the street name (just to be s…
Castile–La Mancha casts its storied spell
The bus south-west from Madrid can be a dreary trip. Satellite suburbs and industrial conglomerations soon give way to a wispy, wind-blown landscape, the colour of hay. It’s hard to imagine much rain comes this way. Terrain flat. Then a rocky outcrop appears, pierced b…
Growing up in a city without cycleways, meant that a year as an exchange student in the Dutch capital was a 'wheely good time'.
Giddy up: the coolest day at the races
I’ve had an enduring interest in horse racing since a teenager. My first job was working for a bookmaker on Saturdays. This during my last few years at school. And in the following decades, I’ve had var…
SWITZERLAND: The White Turf Club sees horses galloping on a frozen lake amidst all the glamour and glitz of St Moritz.
Sunday morning in Monastiraki, and other Athenian treats
Athens; its haunting history and cultural heritage somehow tells the story of us all. Western democracy gets its bearings here. From the classical, unrivalled beauty of the Acropolis to its paved chic shopping strips, Athens is once again starting to ooze a level of confidence and charm befitting its famous and a…
ROMANIA: There's nothing like a transfusion of gothic eroticism to spice up your travels, especially with Bram Stoker as a guide.
High times at the Cannabis Cup
A few years ago, I spent a semester as a full-time exchange student at the University of Amsterdam. This while studying for my Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney. I kept a journal, and what follows typifies the many entries captured, which will form part of a series, Amsterdam Daze.
CROATIA: A medieval melting pot where for centuries the 'east and west' have met to plot, build, fight, cook, and film a HBO blockbuster.
Berlin: Casa Camper, hotel review
Just like their funky, functional footwear, Casa Camper Berlin – with its 51 apartments and suites across eight floors – essentially follows the same, fun and informal design cues from its shoes. And the location is perfect; on the northe…
FRANCE: The day I represented my country in the Great Waiters' Race of Paris.
ITALY: One Christmas, I unexpectedly found myself in Florence for a few days. So I had lunch. But this was no ordinary lunch.
SICILY: A tiny hill-top town in Sicily has hosted its fair share of literary legends, including Truman Capote.
North America
There are roads you drive, and then there's the Icefields Parkway—a 232-kilometre meditation through the Canadian Rockies where each bend in the highway reveals another chapter in Earth's autobiography.
Havana good time
CUBA: The thing you notice most about central and Le Habana Veija (old town) is the noise. Not intrusive, nor deafening; just ever changing and mostly uplifting. Walk down any street at any time of day and be embraced by the audible din of Cuba’s decaying but elegant capital. Ho…
South America
El camino de la muerte
In thin Andean air, where circling condors block the sun momentarily, there stretches a thin vertiginous track called "El Camino de la Muerte" - the Death Road. It connects La Paz in Bolivia, the highest capital in the world, with Coroico, about 70 kilometres or 43 miles away. Forget asphalt and guardrails or any sort of safety barriers. This gravel sc…
Hola, my name is Carmen
Hola. My name is Carmen. I am 36 years old and live most of the time in Uyuni, Bolivia. When I am not in Uyuni, I am working here near Cerro Tomasamil. It is far away from everywhere, and a rest place to stop for people like you visiting Salar de Uyuni.
Stoney-faced in Rapa Nui
EASTER ISLAND: Geographic isolation comes at a great cost; both environmentally and culturally.
BRAZIL: You hear it and feel it long before you see it. Here, at the intersection of 3 countries, nature dictates the terms of engagement.
BOLIVIA: Some towns define desolation. Their haunting isolation suggests that you've reached the end of the known world. Uyuni might just be one of those towns.
My name is José
Hola, my Spanish name is José, but my Quechuan name is Husiy. I am 72 years old and live about 50 km south of Quito. My Quitus ancestors (you can see where the city’s name came from) have lived in these mountains for many centuries before the Incas came around 1462. They did not last long because the Spaniards came and conquered the Incas.
Part 1/2: When visiting a much-hyped city, preconceived expectations can sometimes fall short of reality, as was my case in Rio.
Part 2/2: What are the odds of being mugged twice in two days? Fairly slim, you'd think?
Oceania
The wonder of nature that is Kangaroo Island
The small plane banked abruptly as if the pilot had to make a last minute correction. We were only 20 minutes in the air from Adelaide before Kingscote’s runway came into view. The fading winter light was turning the sky a bruise-blue.
The heart of the matter
The horizon surrenders Uluru reluctantly, releasing it inch by inch as we approach through pre-dawn darkness. The monolith materialises not as photograph or postcard but more a vast silhouette or void in the landscape against the lightening sky. Its edges slowly sharpen against the scatt…
The world's best outdoor cinema experience
If this story reads a little biased, then so be it. This is where I live. Upfront, January is a special month. School’s out. Work stops. Holidays kick in. Lazy sultry days unfold like a well-paced film, where you shift seamlessly between sun-drenched beaches, Festival events, long lunches in fabulous restaurants, and evenings by the harbour, culminating…
Africa
Mountain high near Marrakesh
Marrakesh in July is like a furnace built of ancient stone. The heat comes at you from all directions. From above. From below. From the walls that have been storing the sun for a thousand years. It’s not the season to be here. But I was in southern Spain with no fixed agenda or timeframe, so I looked across the Strait of Gibraltar and thought, ‘why not…
A quest for the best eggs Benedict
KENYA: An eggs-cellent adventure across continents to crack the code of a classic dish.
A decade after the uprisings of 2011-13, the Egyptian capital echoes a more stable and secure environment, and with a breathtaking new museum finally open, this ancient metropolis is again a must-see.
Spicy times in Zanzibar
We had come to the island for rest and relaxation. A month earlier we arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. After that we took the Blue Train to Johannesburg. Then a safari in Tanzania. We climbed Kilimanjaro, taking the slow route. Now Zanzibar.
Sultans and slaves, spice traders and explorers; they all left a complex historical and culinary legacy on this exotic East African island.